i am on TA tonight and will reduce the naan order and make good with this recipe.

i agree on the time "ingredient" and will make sure i stick to 3 hrs before using. i'll go for 1 egg also.

WOW! as i was reading through i thought these are going to be sticky.

your a real star . thanks  ;D ;D ;D

Quotegreen cardamoms, cinnamon, clove, tumeric, garlic, and tomatoes i would like to know. I am sure these ingredients are very important in BIR cooking but i still haven?t fitted them into a perfect BIR style dish yet

now and again i split a green cardamom open and add the seeds at the frying stage just after the base goes in.

i think casia is better fit than cinnamon for BIR taste.

finely chopped garlic mixed in tom puree and added at the frying stage is a must for me (2 tbsp ea)

fresh toms quartered added after the base goes in is a v.nice addition.

have never heard of tomato masala - i would guess it's a mixture of tom puree and the spice mix used to fry the curries.

turmeric - keep the amount down it spoils that balance of spice otherwise

Derek,

this is a seriously good question (my No1 also).

i've ended up adding sugar to my spice mix and effectively frying it - it?s a decent sticking plaster but i'm sure it's not legit. i tried adding after the base but i just get a sickly sweet not the type we're after.

i'm undecided about onions. i make rajver, saffron and ifindforu bases which just bung the onions in the pan. i tried currytesters base which really fries the onions and carrot - it did not give a significant difference (albeit the ghee was too prominent - base is still in development and a possible glimmer). i slow fry onions for "burger" bbq and i don't believe i can get any more sweetness out by caramelising and it's still not enough to bridge the BIR gap so i'm sceptical about the effect of frying in the base.

the mango chutney is something i'd not thought of and sounds promising as a sticking plaster as i'm sure it too is not legit. the rest of the listed items aren?t going to do it. there important in there own right but not what we're after.

i'm on TA tomorrow night and will ponder while i enjoy (special garlic chicken). it's why we live!  ;D

Tamala/Davy,

to sort this sconey taste i'm going to make the KD quick nan ie self raising flour reducing the ingredients to only those listed by Tamala (no oil, no egg - i don't generally add anyway). i will add the baking powder as i think this makes for more bubbling.

i'm going to make the liquid ratio the same as UB's (unless any better ideas).

i do tend to keep the salt high and i did add 1 tsp last time. i haven't perfected the art yet - it's going to take a while and yes on the last go i did not roll out the edges (i did the 1st time) but we were ok on the thickness/stodginess. i cooked them in my cast iron pan and did just flip them over.

Currytester,

no real value in this observation (probably obvious to most).

i made your pathia and UB's side by side. I had not cooked mushroom at home in a curry before. i was surprised how i did not think the mushrooms added much - surprised as my fav at fav blati is chicken & mushroom - obviously i?m miles away from there abilities (with mushrooms).

i don?t put lemon in UB's (or madras) so effectively was comparing lemon & sugar v tamarind & cream coconut. for me the tamarind/coconut was closer to BIR (but as always not just quite there but that?s the case for all my dishes albeit UB?s got 3 out of 3 family votes to make again but no mushrooms).

Tamala,

many thanks for persevering with us. which recipe do u feel is closest to BIR so that we can try it for comparison.

Davy,

thanks for your thoughts.

i too feel it's worth a little time to crack this.

do you get a sort of "sconey" after taste with self raising flour (just checking it?s not just me)

i did not leave the 3 hrs but it did double in size (i put it in my electric oven and keep switching it on a little now and again to keep it around 20C which speeds up the proving to around 1 hr).

your right the flour will have a bearing. i'm also using cheap supermarket but it works fine for pizza dough which i make.

until now i've used KD's yeast recipe (sometimes with yoghurt, sometimes with milk).
what i have found is that caster sugar works better than normal granular sugar - gives a better sweetness. mine also bubble's up nicely.

i've never thought of leaving overnight - will have to give it a try.

have never made the KD quick recipe nan due to this sconey taste that i don't care for.

Tamala,

glad you're keeping an eye on me

QuoteOver 17 teaspoons of ground spices (plus whole spices) to 225g of onion, plus half a green pepper, "sits fine" with you Jerry?  Please tell us you're joking?!

my explanation is i'm quite happy with the 3 bases that i've now adopted (rajver, saffron, ifindforu). these have pretty much told me what amounts i need for the base to work. i don't believe these bases can be beaten.

i'm now keeping an eye out for 2 things associated with technique.

1) how can i increase the sweetness (without the sickly taste of adding sugar) - ie should i fry the onions or just boil them. i've read most of the forum posts on the subject buy i'm still undecided. i thought this recipe quite interesting down to the bit about browning the onions. That was the only bit I was interested in.
2) the smokey flavour - i'm interested in oil reclaim and a better burner (no context in this recipe)

given this recipe has no coriander and losts of cumin i'm afraid i'm staying over here and not going over there (sorry ivangough -no dissent on your recipe - just that i'm pretty fixed on the taste i'm after and although i like cardamom i like coriander better and not keen on cumin in big amounts)

UB,

made the naans again tonight with mod to use only plain flour ie no self raising.

the taste was much better "sconey taste" had gone but overall the magic had gone - the yeast does not create anywhere near the original spec amount of rising "bubbling".

i suppose i could try adding more bicarb to compensate (ie say 3 tsp as opposed to 1 tsp used) but i feel that i'm just adding back the self raising.

so in conclusion think we should stick with the original spec.